28. They think it's all over.

Dumbledore was by Harry's side in an instant, Voldemort lying forgotten on the forest floor. The boy was thrashing on the ground, face contorted in agony, struggling to draw a breath through the black smoke hovering over his mouth. His scar was angry and red against his suddenly pale skin.

"Harry?" Ron shouted, having heard the sound of his friend's distress from his place on the other side of the clearing. He and Hermione immediately ran over and dropped down to his side. "What's happening to him?"

"Voldemort's dead," Dumbledore explained, "and is trying to come back."

"But the Horcrux is gone," Hermione stuttered. "It has to be."

"It would appear that Severus missed a spot," Dumbledore said.

Ron growled. "I'll kill him!"

Hermione yanked Ron back to Harry's side when he made to run over to Snape, who was standing a few feet away, silently watching over Voldemort's body, wand pointed at the evil wizard's head.

"Ron! That isn't helping!"

"The Soul Separator!" The Doctor announced. "I had it – a minute ago, it was in my hand, where-"

River wordlessly summoned it and held it out to show him before giving it to Dumbledore. "You need to be quick," she told him.

Dumbledore wordlessly put the machine on Harry's forehead. "Hold him down," he ordered Ron and Hermione.

Looking sick, they did as they were told. Harry continued to scream and thrash under their grip, and it visibly took every ounce of their strength not to let him go. Everyone who had survived the Death Eaters gathered around the scene and looked on in shock, some muttering amongst themselves in concern and fear, but most simply remaining mute, too shaken to know what to say.

The Doctor, however, turned his back on the procedure and walked over to Snape, jaw set. "You could never do it, could you?" He asked in an angry voice.

Snape's eyes didn't leave Voldemort's twitching form. "What?"

"Your prejudice," the Doctor explained, practically spitting the word out. "You always thought Harry was his father in every way, didn't you, and you couldn't see past it. You just weren't willing to look at the boy underneath!"

"The boy is his father's son."

"Yes, and he's also Lily's, in case you'd forgotten!" the Doctor all but roared, causing Snape's eyes to at last move away from the still form before him. "Isn't that the whole point? Protect the last bit of Lily that existed?"

Snape glanced around the clearing warily. Those closest to the arguing pair were starting to glance in their direction. "I would rather not discuss-"

"And that," the Doctor said, "is exactly your problem. You always, always think you're right! No one else's ideas even have a look-in! Did it ever occur to you that maybe Harry is more like his mother than you thought? Are you really, honestly telling me that you were so blinded by your hatred of his father that you couldn't see the same qualities of the woman you loved in the child you were supposed to protect? And now you've left a piece of him in Harry's head, all because you thought that's what his father was like!"

There was a general murmur of surprise in the surrounding crowd. Snape looked livid.

"And you," he hissed back, "are forever poking your nose into other people's business, Doctor. You think you can fix everything, that you know the answer to everything. You lament at the unfairness of the universe, at the danger your companions are in, but you do everything in your power to keep it that way, because you enjoy it."

They were nose to nose now, each looking more angry than River had ever seen them.

"Harry suffered for years because of you," the Doctor said quietly. "He suffered because you were too blind to see the truth. And now that blindness could very well mean that the darkest, most dangerous wizard who ever lived could come back."

There was an ominous silence.

"I hope you're proud."

With that, the Doctor turned his back on Snape, effectively dismissing him, and made his way over to Dumbledore and Harry. The crowd stared between them in shock. Snape stared defiantly back at those who dared look at him, and they turned away.

The Doctor dropped to the ground next to Dumbledore and pointed his Sonic Screwdriver at Harry's head. He whacked it once. "It's still not picking up anything."

"Will he be alright?" Hermione asked, trying and failing to keep her voice from wavering.

"If Dumbledore can get everything out, yes. If not…" The Doctor trailed off.

Hermione stifled a sob, but her grip on Harry's shoulders remained firm. Harry, for his part, was thrashing less now, though he had not regained any colour and was still struggling to breathe. Dumbledore pressed the Separator onto his forehead with white knuckles, his brow furrowed in concentration, lips moving soundlessly as he delved through every aspect of Harry, searching for the one thing that was amiss that Snape had missed.

The clearing was silent as everyone held their breath, staring at the scene unfolding before them, scarcely daring to hope, scarcely daring to utter encouragement in case it distracted the man who may or may not save the Boy Who Lived…

Forgotten in his cage, the Master sat cross-legged, also watching the unfolding scene, though with considerably less nervousness. In fact, the battle that had just raged around him seemed not to phase him at all, and he looked almost bored, absently fiddling with an unravelling thread on his black hoodie.

"Is anyone going to let me out?" He asked.

The Doctor turned towards him in shock, as though he had forgotten that he was there. "Not yet."

"Why not?" the Master asked in annoyance. "You can't just leave me in a cage like some sort of canary – it's degrading."

The Doctor walked over to him, eyebrows raised. "You would know."

The Master snorted. "If you weren't so annoying you wouldn't end up in prison cells." He spread his arms. "I'd break myself out of here but there's something off about this place." He sniffed. "Parallel universe?"

The Doctor nodded. "Harry Potter."

"Ugh. It just had to be fairies and rainbows."

Harry screamed, and the Doctor's head whipped around in alarm. He moved as if to go and join Dumbledore again, but the scream died down and silence reigned once more. He warily turned back to the Master.

"Do you still hear them?" he asked quietly, looking at the Master intently.

The Master paused for a moment, listening intently. "No," he said in surprise. "They're… just gone." He stared at the Doctor in shock. "And so are the Time Lords."

"Yes," the Doctor acknowledged. "I'm sorry."

The Master plucked at the thread, not even noticing that it was beginning to fray. "It's… so quiet."

"I guess you were never really mad after all," the Doctor said. "Well… Not as mad as I first thought, anyway. Calling you sane would be a bit of a stretch."

"That's a bit rich coming from you."

"Fair point." The Doctor wavered on his feet suddenly, a hand coming up to his forehead as though he was just noticing that he was dizzy. "Ah, River," he murmured.

The Master squinted at him. "What? What river?"

The Doctor fell to his knees, coughing. The Master noticed for the first time the state his arch nemesis and childhood friend was in, and felt a disturbing pang of sympathy that he quickly squashed. It would hardly do to turn mellow.

"River," the Doctor rasped, but his voice was drowned out by Harry, who uttered one final shout before falling silent.

The crowd suddenly erupted into cheering, slapping each other on the back and setting off sparks with their wands. Dumbledore sat back, Separator in hand, and smiled slightly. Further over in the clearing, Voldemort's body stopped twitching and was still, never to move again. Snape lowered his wand, looking relieved. Ron and Hermione immediately engulfed Harry in a hug before he could even fully sit up, knocking him back to the ground. Everyone was smiling and laughing for what felt like the first time in years.

"Good," the Master said. "The big, bad wizard with the snake face is dead, no more pathetic Muggles will be murdered, and everyone can get really drunk and celebrate. But first," he added, "can someone let me out?"

As Dumbledore destroyed the Soul Separator and the final remains of Voldemort, River turned around, looking at the Master almost as an afterthought. She made her way over to them, her hand still clutching her gun, her hair flying wild. Catching sight of the Doctor kneeling on the floor, she whipped out a medi-scanner and quickly ran it over him. She swiftly read the results and shrugged her backpack – which she had taken into battle in the event of an emergency escape – onto the ground, where she began rooting around inside it.

"What's that?" The Master asked, catching sight of a needle. "It's bad to be an enabler, you know," he said mockingly.

"You," River said, putting everything back in her bag and looking up at the Master, leaving the Doctor to recover on the ground for the moment. "I've heard a lot about you."

"All stellar reports, I expect," the Master replied, getting to his feet.

"Oh, quite the opposite. I'd be impressed if I wasn't so repulsed."

The Master pretended to wince. "True genius is never appreciated." He looked River up and down. "Are you going to open the lock, then? I see you have a gun – that usually works on wood, but only if you point it at it. That would help."

The Doctor clambered back to his feet. "You're coming back with us."

"Oh," the Master replied, "am I?"

"You can't stay here."

"Why not?" The Master challenged. "You said it's a universe with magic in it. I could wreck some truly wonderful havoc here."

"As a Muggle?" The Doctor countered.

River turned to look at the Doctor. "How come I can do magic and you can't?"

The Doctor stuck his finger in the air. "Right, you weren't there for that bit, sorry." He waved his hands about around his head in a vague 'gah' motion. "This whole situation is so hard to keep linear… Er… Basically, I can't do magic. And it's likely that he can't, either, as he's a Time Lord."

"He has a name."

"Which you never use," the Doctor shot back.

"But I'm part Time Lord too," River pointed out. "Shouldn't I be a Muggle?"

"You're also part human. The human part of you can do magic, apparently, and cancels out the Time Lord part."

The Master couldn't stop the surprise from creeping into his voice. "You're part Time Lord?" He glanced at the Doctor in shock. "Really? It's bad enough you insist on surrounding yourself with humans, but mating with them…"

"What? No, no, no!" The Doctor said. "It's not like that! She's not my daughter! That would be… well…" He shuddered. "Urgh. When I think of all the things-" He flushed beetroot red and fell silent.

"I'm his wife," River elaborated. "And yes, part Time Lord, part human. I'd tell you to check my pulse for yourself, but I don't want you anywhere near my chest."

The Doctor choked.